


Riot Van

by morganascorpse



Category: Arctic Monkeys, Last Shadow Puppets
Genre: Fluff, Other, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:42:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28481115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morganascorpse/pseuds/morganascorpse
Summary: you and Alex walk around town and talk and run away from the police and teenagers in love
Relationships: Alex Turner (Musician)/Reader
Kudos: 9





	Riot Van

As you said goodbye to the last of friends that was going home, you looked at Alex, uncertain, taking a sip from your soda to buy some time.  
You'd just been walking around, joking with each other and visiting any stores that looked interesting. After some time, your group got smaller and smaller, your friends saying that they needed to get home before nine or that they had promised to take care of their sister that night, etc. Until there was only you and Alex left.  
"Well, I guess we should go home too, love. I'll walk you there if y-"  
"No!" you looked at each other, Alex slightly confused and you embarrassed. "I mean, can we please stay out a little more? I don't wanna go back home just yet."  
You hadn't really talked much about your family problems to Alex, your friendship being quite new, you didn't want to strain it. The problems you had with neglect, how you often felt like a ghost at home, how you felt like just a pretty thing to do the dishes or listen to their problems. How they wouldn't realize you were out late. How you really wanted to get home only after everyone had gone to bed.  
But the way you looked into his eyes was so full of pain and raw emotion that, despite the casual tone in your voice, he picked up on the fact that something was wrong. But this night had been so full of laughter and carelessness; he didn't want it to end with you crying your eyes out about your problems.  
"Sure."He gave you a sympathetic smile, knowing you'd talk about it eventually. You started walking more slowly, looking around the stores and pointing out buildings that you found interesting. Your arms would occasionally bump, and you felt the constant urge to reach out for his hand. You really tried to hide your blossoming feelings for Alex under lock and key out of fear, but it was becoming increasingly harder. You knew it would be better if things continued like this, he probably didn’t like your raggedy ass back anyways. It was always like this with you.  
As you were walking by a bookstore, something caught your eye: it was a stunning hardcover edition of A Clockwork Orange. You stopped to get a better look at it, Alex continuing to walk for a brief second before turning to stand next to you.  
"Why did God make me broke?" You looked at the display with a dreamy expression and sighed, taking a last sip from the soda that was starting to freeze your fingers. Alex chuckled at your words, and when you looked over at him he seemed to be deep in thought, but the both of you just kept walking, soon finding a trashcan to throw the soda can into.  
It was a chilly autumn night, around 9pm, so people started looking funny at the two very clearly teenagers walking around so late on a Wednesday.  
“I wanna grow up already so people stop giving me this look when I’m out ‘late’ without my parents.” Alex half whispered close to your ear and you felt a shiver running down your spine. Luckily it looked like it had just been the wind and you nodded.  
“Tell me about it. Just the other day the lady who worked at a clothing store started giving me advice about how this will be the worst phase of my life and how everything will get better when I graduate completely unprompted. Like, I hadn’t said anything about anything, y’know?”  
“I know they mean well, but it gets really annoying. Did you know that sometimes I have to show proof of my age to get out of school? Because the younger people have different schedules and they get out after we do and… yeah.” He let out a huffed laugh and you rolled your eyes.  
“Ugh. Fuck authority. Period.” You said in a joking tone, but you knew you both agreed.  
You were walking by a restaurant that had one of those bubble making machines at the entrance, so without thinking you grabbed Alex’s hand and spun around as bubbles fell around you. You giggled and let go of his hand, trying to play it off as just something friends do and totally not that you couldn’t hold yourself back. Before an awkward silence could settle itself between you both, you said:  
“One time, I was at my little cousin’s birthday party. It was so boring, it only had my mom, people from my family I’m not really close with, his four year old friends and their parents. So like, the only thing I had to pass time was to blow bubbles. And the kids started gathering around me to burst the bubbles, I unconsciously started blowing more bubbles, ‘til I almost passed out!”  
Alex let out a soft laugh and commented:  
“Kids don’t deserve that effort, love.”  
“Hehe, I don’t like them either, but as a wise man once said, Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.” Alex looked confused for a moment, looking at the sky, then looked back at you and said with a smirk:  
“Is the wise man Bear Grylls?”  
“The wisest of them all.” You said in a funny voice and continued walking.  
After a while, you instinctively turned a corner, and the street you found yourselves on was less well lit, but it wasn’t a sketchy part of town, so you continued your stroll.  
“My cousin lives around here, I think.” you said, finding the place rather familiar.  
“Oh, really?” Alex said in a quiet tone, not sure where you were going with that.  
“I hate her.” you were quick to clarify, offering him a conspiratorial smile, which he mirrored with an awkward chuckle. Scratching his neck, he asked:  
“Why’s that? I-If you don’t mind talking about it.”  
You sighed, stuffing your hands in your back pockets and looking at the sky before answering:  
“I dunno. It’s just that. When we were little she’d convince me to do some things that obviously wouldn’t end well, but I was four so I thought they were hilarious. And she was eleven, so I also thought that she was a grown up that 100% knew what she was doing. So anyway, we’d do the thing, but only I would get scolded? My parents and my uncle and aunt thought that she was a sweet little angel that could do no wrong and that I had convinced her to help me and that I should be more responsible. Again, I was four and she was eleven. Years later she got sad because I stopped visiting her altogether, bet she can’t imagine why, so far up her ass she is.” You let out a bitter laugh and felt kind of bad, as if you had dropped a brick on Alex’s head, making your walk more serious and heavy than it should have been, but at the same time better for venting about it.  
“That’s… really fucked up, love.” he was looking at you with pity, and you didn’t know if you felt good or angry about it. You were walking slower now, almost stopping. “You talk as if it were nothing.”  
You stretched your arms and tried to smile, knowing what he meant. You were dragging your feet across the sidewalk.  
“Yeah. All my life I felt like no one ever saw me. Even if they said ‘Ooooh what happened to you was soooo bad’, I felt like they didn’t truly care. I know I was right. So I feel…” you stopped walking looked at him for a moment, feeling like you’d talked too much, and Alex had such a saddened expression on his face, you were almost certain that he’d understand, or at least wholeheartedly believe you. “…kinda stupid to be serious about it. I feel like I end up sounding so dramatic, even if objectively I know that what happened and is happening is really bad-“ you cut yourself off, the guilt of venting and putting your weight on another person’s shoulders coming back, and you stared at the floor.  
You could feel that Alex was unsure of what to do, the air was very thick between you two.  
After a moment, he lightly touched your shoulder and, when you didn’t protest, wrapped his arm around you. You clutched the back of his coat in response, feeling too weak to do anything else besides that and dropping your head heavily on his shoulder.  
“(Y/n)… if you ever feel like talking more about… anything… I-I’m never doing anything terribly important, okay?”  
You took a deep breath, the cold air calming you a bit, then nodded. You slowly lifted your head and linked arms with Alex, resuming your walk. He tensed up for a moment and you felt sick, what if you had gone too far. Then he started sliding his arm out of the loop yours made and you just wanted to chew a hole on the pavement and die, but then he stopped, clutching your arm a little above your elbow. You couldn’t help steal a glance at Alex, who was facing away, looking at the opposite sidewalk. You looked forward and smiled like a fool.  
While you were walking, a window on the other side of the street caught your attention. More specifically, what was happening inside. A woman was coming in and out of view, she seemed to be spinning, then another jumping, then another. Then they all seemed to howl and start a fight. It was fascinating, and you wanted to understand what the hell was going on. When you were in front of it, you stopped walking.  
“Hey, look at that.” You pointed and Alex looked at the window too, there was now a purple glow coming from it, and a woman was standing perfectly still while you couldn’t see the others, but the changes in the light and the shadows moving made it clear that they were performing some sort of dance. “What do you think is going on?”  
Alex didn’t respond, he was probably trying to piece together some sort of explanation. You kept watching the people do seemingly random movements at random times for who knows how long.  
“Maybe it’s a ritual of sorts? But… I dunno, I have so many questions.”He said after a while and you nodded slowly, eyes still glued to the window.  
Suddenly, or so it seemed, a car pulled up in front you both. A police car. And they made eye contact with you both.  
Before the policemen could utter half a word, Alex grabbed your hand and started running at full speed back the way you came from. You almost tripped, but managed to keep your balance. The policemen were shouting at you to stop and come back and your heart was racing.  
“Alex!” you shouted, but didn’t know what you wanted to say. He looked back at you, laughing, and you laughed too. The cold made it come out almost as a shiver, it sounded weird, but no one cared, you both were so happy in that moment. The rush from what you were doing was exciting and all you could hear was the wind rushing past your ears and you felt like you were in another plane of existence where only the two of you existed.  
He suddenly took a turn, and you decided to just trust that he knew where he was going. Suddenly you were going down a slope, hopping occasionally and laughing like fools. The menacing presence of the police officers was still there, but you just didn’t care. You felt like you could fly off with him right then and there.  
Alex made another sudden turn and you let yourself be led. Soon you found yourself crouching behind some dumpsters, panting and giggling at the same time. He was smiling wide, eyes gleaming while he looked at you, trying his best to control his breathing, and put his finger over his lips, asking you to be quieter. That made you remember that maybe the cops were on your tail.  
You pressed your lips together and covered your mouth and nose with your hand, trying to reduce the noises of your ragged breath.  
Instinctively you scooted closer to one another, Alex's hand never leaving yours. Both your palms were sweaty but you wouldn't dare to let go, knowing you wouldn't have the courage to hold his hand again.  
You buried your face between your knees to try and further stifle the noise and felt his hand squeeze yours reassuringly, and you squeezed back.  
After a while, when you felt that your breathing was under control, you lifted your head and looked at Alex. He had his face turned from you, looking at the wall of the alley. You decided to look too, even if you didn't know what he was waiting for.  
You saw blue and red lights reflect on the bricks, and realized that Alex was waiting for the cops to go past you both. They were driving slowly, judging by how long it was taking for the lights come closer. Luckily the dumpsters didn’t have any wheels, so they weren’t off the floor and didn’t show your feet. Besides, there were a dozen other alleys that you could’ve gone to and possibly ran off to other streets, so you were relatively safe. The excitement still made you want to giggle, though. You felt your stomach go brbrrbr and decided to try focusing on something else, so you wouldn’t accidently blow your cover.  
You looked down and saw his hand holding yours, and couldn’t hold back a smile. For the first time in the night, you remembered that you were trying to lock those feelings away. They never did you any good, only fucked your life even more, why’d you give this another chance? But then again, Alex was so nice and delicate, he was different from anyone you had ever met. If things went wrong, oh well, people who you thought were essential for you to live had left you in the past, so he couldn’t do much worse than had already happened.  
The debate went on inside your head, your loving side slowly winning, and your thumb started to gently stroke Alex’s hand. You heard his breath get caught up in his throat for a moment beside you, then relaxed into your touch. You couldn’t see his face, but you liked to believe that he was blushing.  
You looked over your shoulder to see the lights now reflected on the wall that you were leaning on, meaning the cops had already gone past you. You touched the back of Alex’s hand with your other hand to get his attention.  
He turned his head towards you, a playful gleam still in his eyes. This took you out of your gloomy ponderations immediately, and you smiled at him before mouthing:  
“How much longer do we have to wait?”  
You weren’t confident in your mouthing abilities, but he seemed to understand you, and gestured for you to stay still for a bit more.  
You were starting to get very uncomfortable holding this position for so long, but didn’t dare to move. You got distracted by your hands again, and noticed that Alex’s was rather small. This made you smile. Fuck, you were really really really smitten by him.  
As discomfort turned to pain, time seemed to drag itself on and on. After what seemed like forever of you using all your willpower to not move, Alex finally spoke in a quiet tone.  
“Ok, I haven’t seen the lights for some minutes, I think it’s safe.”  
You sighed in relief, momentarily letting go of his hand to get up, your knees and back cracking, then offered your hand again to help him get up. That way it didn’t seem that you were intentionally reaching out for his hand, but could still keep holding it after he got up. Genius.  
Gladly, Alex went along with it.  
"What a world we live in, two people can't even stare at a house for a suspiciously long time." You said quietly with a grin.  
Alex chuckled and tugged at your hand, getting out of the alley, still looking at both sides just to be sure. Then, he finally answered:  
"Even if it is suspicious, all cops are bastards, I'll never help them if I can avoid it."  
"I'll second that." You said, squeezing his hand.  
You got back to the street you came from, the one your cousin lives in, then back to the main road.  
"We should probably get the bus. Don't want you to be in trouble because of me." You said, remembering that maybe Alex's parents wouldn't be very pleased with him out so late in the middle of the week.  
"Don't worry about me, love." He said looking at you with a soft expression and caressing your hand for a moment.  
You felt like you were about to cry. Most of the time people would say things like that just to be polite, but you felt that Alex really meant it. But, as much as you wanted to spend the whole night with him, you really didn’t want to get him in trouble.  
"I'm quite tired, really. Let's go." You said, knowing that he wouldn’t accept if you said you wanted to go home for his sake. He nodded and you two walked quietly to the bus stop.  
The wait for the bus was also silent, the night getting colder so both of you subconsciously leaned into one another more and more. You enjoyed the moment, and when the bus finally came, you didn’t feel it had taken a long time, and you also didn’t feel the wait was too short. It had been just. The time that had passed. Time’s weird like that.  
But when you were inside the bus, looking out the window, you couldn’t help but try to cling to every second that went by. You didn’t want to go back home. Just thinking about dealing with them, the way they’d never fucking listen to you, you didn’t want to go back ever again. You turned to Alex, as if he would save you from that reality. He was looking down at your intertwined fingers, completely absorbed in his own thoughts. While admiring his features, you got caught up in the curve of his nose, it was like a ramp (in a good way).  
At that point in the night you didn’t have the energy to second guess your actions, so you rested your head on his shoulder as if it was something you did everyday. Almost instinctively, Alex rested his head on top of yours. He smelled like soap and fresh laundry and you couldn’t help but smile like a fool and take deep breaths. You thought about tilting your head a little and kissing his neck, but you weren’t that brave.  
You searched your mind for something to say or do, but everything seemed so stupid, you decided to stay as you were. It was weird, you felt amazing and comfortable but at the same time you were so nervous and scared that if you moved even a finger, it would break the spell.  
Sooner than you would’ve liked, you arrived to your destination. You and Alex hopped off the bus to the chilly air of the night, still clinging to each other.  
“Lead the way, I’ll walk you home.” He said, looking around the houses.  
“I guess I know better than to argue with you and your chivalry.” You replied with a smile, endeared that he’d do so many things for you. He smiled shyly and you started heading to your house, a few blocks away.  
You were a little scared to end this night. What if you didn’t get to be this close to Alex again? You definitely didn’t want this to be the only time you got to hold his hand and be alone with him. What if he didn’t like you and was eager to drop you off and never breathe in your direction again? Okay, you are being silly, obviously he likes you too… right?  
You were so absorbed by your own thoughts that you forgot to look before crossing the street. Alex quickly pulled you back to the sidewalk as two cars went past you honking.  
“Lucky I was already holding your hand. Gotta look at both sides, love.” He looked slightly concerned, so you were quick to make light of the situation while crossing the street (sure that there were no oncoming cars this time).  
“Sorry, I was just. You know. In my own little world.”  
“What were you thinking about, love?”  
Wing it. Wing. It. He can’t know how insecure you truly are.  
“Uuuuuhhhhhhhhh…” you were looking around, searching for something to say, seeing Alex’s eyes fixed on you from your peripheral vision. “…uuhh.. I was wondering if… you’d like to go to the museum on Saturday?” Yes, the museum. Genius. Your could feel the blush creeping up your cheeks. Did you really just ask him on a date?  
Alex seemed taken aback by your request. His eyes dropped to the floor and his lips formed the sweetest smile in the world, and you could swear that he was blushing.  
“I love going there. I never ask people to go with me because they usually think it’s boring. What time were you thinking?”  
Your face was even redder now and you hoped that he’d think it was because of the cold.  
“I… um… right after lunch maybe? I can wait outside of your house, it’s on the way there right?”  
“I thought you knew better than to argue with my chivalry?” he answered with a smirk.  
“I want to take turns with the chivalry. You’re gonna hurt my pride if you don’t let me.”This made you both laughed wholeheartedly, the sound echoing through the mostly empty streets.  
“Okay then, we’ll take turns. But I’ll be counting!”  
“Deal.” You both squeezed each other’s hands as a form of a handshake, happy that he agreed. Sometimes you just wanted to treat guys like the princesses they were.  
After a short while, you were both standing in front of your house. The only light was the flickering TV through the curtains of the living room windows. You really hoped no one was awake.  
“So…” Alex started, unsure of what to say.  
“So… I’ll see you at school?” you said, almost in a whisper, afraid someone inside the house might hear you. You turned to face him, smiling awkwardly.  
“Yeah, see you there, love.” Despite what he said, he didn’t move a muscle, just kept staring at you. You could see the wheels turning in his head, and that triggered your own to turn as well, trying to find a fitting way to say goodbye.  
“I… um…” Alex stepped closer to you and you instinctively did the same, now you were almost touching. You could feel his breath on your face and you were close enough to see that his eyelashes were beautifully long, and his eyes were so soft staring at you. “C-can I kiss you?”  
Before you could overthink it and wonder about the billion things that could go wrong, you simply nodded and closed your eyes. Before you knew it, Alex’s lips were on yours and he embraced you softly, hands resting on your back, pulling you into him.  
Both your lips were a little chapped because of the cold, but that didn’t bother you much. The tenderness you shared flooded your mind as you moved slightly out of sync at first, but soon you adjusted to each other. You placed your hands on the back of neck, massaging his nape softly with your fingers. This made him sigh against your lips and you smiled, pleased with the small power you had over him, even though he did the same to you.  
His hands cupped your cheeks and you both started giggling, still trying to kiss without clanking your teeth. You shared a few more soft pecks before resting your foreheads against one another, looking into each other’s eyes deeply. You twirled a strand of Alex’s hair around your finger and realized that at least some of the tension and uncertainty between you two had disappeared, and you hoped for good. You just wanted to be yourself and have fun with him, and not have that mix of good and bad emotions that drove you absolutely insane.  
“Well…” you were the one to break the silence. Even though you wanted to stay in that moment forever, your better judgment told you it was time to go. “Don’t forget we have a date on Saturday.”  
Alex smiled widely, his eyes almost squeezing shut, and said:  
“I can’t wait, love.” You were half expecting that he was going to tease you for calling it a date, but seeing how honest, open and wholesome he was just made your heart melt even more.  
You took a step back, going up the stair to the door backwards, still facing him.  
“Bye Alex, get home safe.” You said, blowing him a kiss and turning to unlock the door and hide the huge stupid smile that had crept up on your face.


End file.
